Apple opening five new China stores over five weeks

More Chinese locations will soon join this Apple retail store in Beijing.
Apple

Apple's growth plans in China are heating up.

The tech giant plans to open five new stores across the country over the coming five weeks, Xinhua, the Chinese government's news agency, reported Thursday. Those will be on top of the 15 Apple stores already there.

"We are opening five new stores before the Chinese New Year this year," Angela Ahrendts, Apple's head of retail and online stores, told the news service in a phone interview. The Chinese New Year this year is February 19. "Four of the stores are in brand new cities for us."

Apple opened its first store in China in 2008. The country has quickly become one of Apple's most important retail markets, thanks to a growing middle class eager to own the company's high-end iPhone smartphones. However, Apple needs to battle against a growing set of local handset makers -- such as Xiaomi, ZTE and Huawei -- offering cheaper phones with premium features.